RSK Group is seeking financial investment to fund and support an ambitious growth and expansion strategy in which the Group aims to nearly quadruple its turnover and double its company acquisitions to date by the end of the decade.
Private equity investors and capital providers are invited to partner with the Cheshire company as it seeks to achieve turnover of more than £5 billion in 2030 by increasing the number of businesses in its M&A portfolio to 400 from its current 200.
Central to RSK’s “2030 Strategy” is its commitment to its Sustainability offering, and it wants partners with a “tangible interest in the sustainability agenda” that can “work alongside existing shareholders in guiding RSK towards its 2030 vision”.
Since January alone, RSK is understood to have executed in the region of 20 mergers and acquisitions with companies from a range of different sectors – oftentimes overseeing several in quick succession in a matter of weeks.
The Group now comprises more than 200 companies and saw turnover this year of £1.2 billion, up from £796 million in FY2022.
CEO Alan Ryder said of his company’s growth he wants to run the largest provider of “sustainable solutions” in the world, relying on the “cross-fertilisation of ideas and expertise”.
He added he views the myriad businesses within his company as lily pads on a pond, each an “individual pocket of expertise” whose real benefit reaches its full potential when “one lily pad abuts another”, thus creating an intersection of ideas and a unique offering for his customers.
To read more about RSK’s growth trajectory follow this link
To achieve its 2030 target, the Group will focus on expansion in all the regions where it currently operates, including Australia, Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.
“Over the past 30 years we have created an enviable diversity of UK businesses operating in most sectors of the economy, including many of those most critical to future global sustainability, such as water, energy, food and drink, infrastructure, urban development, mining and waste,” said Group CFO, Abigail Draper.
Adding: “Our future growth strategy reflects our intention to now replicate that strength and diversity across the world.”
The Group also hopes to double its clients to 20,000 in 2030 and increase its workforce to 40,000 over the next seven years.
“We are well aware that our growth strategy includes some very big numbers and significant goals for business growth,” said Ryder. “However, this is anchored in our experience of more than three decades spent delivering environmental and engineering services to help clients around the world minimise their impact on the planet.
“In that time, we have witnessed the global realisation that urgent action is required if we are to achieve a sustainable future. The United Nations has captured this universal call to action in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), ‘a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future’. As governments and businesses across all sectors invest heavily in achieving a more sustainable future, the opportunities for RSK increase at pace. The challenge we face is in responding to these priorities and delivering to the standard that our clients expect. We have demonstrated our commitment to and capacity in meeting these challenges – our track record offers credible evidence of this with the pace of growth continuing amid a global pandemic.
“This leaves RSK with little doubt that its 2030 growth strategy is achievable. RSK will further diversify its offering, delivering truly end-to-end solutions to a very long list of clients who operate in many sectors. Strengthening the business globally is a high priority as our geographic targets demonstrate, limiting our exposure to any one region and capitalising on the market opportunities around the world.
Ryder added: “To fund this next stage of growth, RSK will be undertaking a capital raise through a preferred equity instrument. Ares [Management] has been an exceptional partner to us and I look forward to carrying on that relationship as we bring in new investment. The company is not just looking for financial investors, but also partners that have a tangible interest in the sustainability agenda and can work alongside existing shareholders in guiding RSK towards its 2030 vision.”
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